Christina Vaughn, 23 years after she was first seen at North Fulton Regional Hospital.

     The resident population of the United States was projected to reach close to 301.5 million in March of 2007 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.  With one birth every eight seconds, this figure is likely to continue to increase.  North Fulton Regional Hospital is proud to contribute to this increase, something it has been doing since November of 1983.

     The Maternity Unit of North Fulton Regional was christened with its first delivery almost as soon as the hospital opened its doors on November 6, 1983.  The same year that McDonald’s ever popular Chicken McNugget was created and Microsoft Word was first released, North Fulton Regional Hospital prepared for its own special delivery.

     Christina Lynn Vaughn was the first child born to Thomas and Gail Vaughn on November 8, 1983.  The 10 pound baby girl was delivered in the birthing room of the hospital, which was designed with a home environment in mind; expectant mothers brought children into the world in brass rail beds surrounded by bright wallpaper.

     Now a volunteer with the Cherokee County Fire Department, Vaughn recalls her experience at North Fulton Regional Hospital with enthusiasm.

     “I felt like a queen.  Everybody was so friendly,” Vaughn reminisces.  “Nothing had that sterile look of an operating room like in some other hospitals.”  She also remembers that the nursing staff “catered to my wants and not the other way around.  What I cared about is what mattered.”

     Vaughn worked as a Registered Nurse for several years before deciding to become a volunteer.  Today she also spends time teaching CPR classes at North Fulton Regional Hospital.  Her baby girl, now a 23-year-old woman, is a cosmetologist who “changes her hair color every month,” Vaughn jokes.

     Although times have changed as 23 years have passed, the personal attention mothers receive in the maternity unit has not wavered.  Expectant mothers choose their own plan for labor, delivery and post-partum care, and the family-centered environment allows for flexibility in birthing choices including labor balls, tubs for relaxation during labor, and a birthing pool for water birth. The entire maternal area is equipped with an updated, advanced infant security system, and all of the units are just steps away from one another.

     Maternity Services at North Fulton Regional are nothing new.  Doctors and nurses of the hospital have been delivering babies for the last 23 years, and they will continue to do so as long as there are pregnant females in Georgia and its surrounding areas.  As long as there is a need for quality labor and delivery care, North Fulton Regional will be here to meet that need.

     With now close to 16,000 babies delivered, North Fulton Regional looks forward to expanding its Maternity Services.  With the addition of more delivery rooms, more mothers will be able to experience the one-on-one care of a community hospital designed with the patient in mind.

     Some services available to expectant mothers and their families include educational classes such as Baby Care Basics, Breastfeeding Class, Motherlore, Prenatal Exercise and Yoga Classes, Prepared Childbirth and a Sibling Class.  North Fulton also offers various breastfeeding services and maternity tours.

     To learn more about Maternity Services at North Fulton Regional Hospital please call (770)751-2687 or visit www.northfultonregional.com/maternity.